The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Royal Pretenders at Sam Bass Community Theatre, August 19 - 29

. . . or, perhaps, The Road to Salvation as imagined by Bart Simpson.

The setting is a clichéd and unfunny take on the Day of Judgment, the plot's a mess, the characters are mostly caricatures, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was LONG -- close to three hours, including one intermission.

A brilliant and moving play was hiding inside this mess, one that came clear in the concluding scenes, after the grunge and cuteness had been burned away.

One had the impression that Stephen Adly Guirgis set out to write a stand-up comedy routine about the afterlife and just couldn't bear to discard any of the many characters that occurred to him along the way.

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Austin Shakespeare Classes Based on King Lear, October 11 - November 22

Found on-line:

Shakespeare Acting Studio, October 11 - November 22

Austin Shakespeare is currently accepting actors into the professional Shakespeare Acting Studio. The Fall semester will focus on scenes from King Lear, including cross gender casting. Focusing on interpretive tools, voice and diction, and intense physicalization, we believe that sharpening your skills in expressing Shakespeare's work, you will be a stronger actor in any endeavor.

The Shakespeare Acting Studio will run from 7 pm-9:30 pm Mondays Oct. 11- Nov. 22 in 8 sessions. $35 per session or $200 for all 8 sessions. The studio will include a final showcase performance for professional agents, directors and supporters.

To apply, contact: swan@austinshakespeare.org.

Education: Babs George Teaches Acting at State Theatre & ACC, September 15 - October 20

Found on-line:

The Creativity of Acting for Film & Stage

presented by State Theatre School of Acting

in association with Austin Community College at The State Theatre

Wednesdays, September 15-October 20, 7 - 10 p.m.

Intuitive acting. What does it mean? Where does it come from? How do you get there consistently?

Living in the moment, in a highly intuitive state is the method explored, (learned from Charles Conrad, now retired, but well known Los Angeles acting teacher of 40 years). Improvisation and cold reading scenes will be the bulk of the class work. Both film and stage scripts will be used, with some work filmed for playback and critique.

Beginning- Advanced Beginning. Led by Babs George Sept. 15-Oct. 20 (6 weeks) Wednesdays 1-3:30pm $165 DRAM 3003 100

Penfold Theatre Profile by Abilene Christian University,

From the website of

The Penfold Theatre Company | Austin, Texas

ACU alumni trio Nathan Jerkins, Sean Martin and Ryan Crowder have made a big splash in the Austin arts scene this year. As the Penfold Theatre Company, they've sold out shows, piqued the interest of the rapidly growing Austin suburb of Round Rock and swept the Austin Critics Circle Awards. This year they received awards for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and their show, Jon and Jen, captured the award for Best Musical.

In every title that we choose, in every choice that we make, we're trying to connect to an audience and not just put on a play. Yes, we have quality standards, but it's about telling stories that inspire and impact people. - Sean Martin

The timing of Penfold Theatre could not have been better. The year before they began this company, an arts council was formed and a professional symphony came to the Round Rock area. So by the time they got there, a foundation for the arts had already been created.

Perfect timing

"It was great because there's already a stream going that way, and we've stepped into that stream," said Sean. "Round Rock is really well positioned, because it's a city in its own right, but it's also at the intersection of several other growing suburbs." The population of Round Rock combined with surrounding suburbs is nearing 400,000 people.

The city council of Round Rock came to see Penfold's second show, The Last Five Years. "Then they called us up, took us to lunch and basically sat us down and said, 'What can we do to make you in our town?' " said Ryan.

Read more at www.acu.edu . . . .

First Horton Foote prizes go to Lyn Nottage and Will Eno

From playbill.com via ArtsJournal.com:

Lynne Nottage's Ruined and Will Eno's Middletown Named First Recipients of Horton Foote Prizes

By Andrew Gans
30 Aug 2010

Winners of the newly established Horton Foote Prizes, named in honor of the late legendary writer, were announced Aug. 30.

Presented biennially "to award excellence in American Theater," the first winners include Lynne Nottage's Ruined for Outstanding New American Play and Will Eno's Middletown for Promising New American Play.

Nottage and Eno will be honored at a private reception Sept. 20 at The Players in New York City. Each playwright will be presented with $15,000 and a limited edition of Keith Carter's photograph of Horton Foote.

As contenders for Outstanding New American Play and Promising New American Play, Nottage and Eno were nominated by Manhattan Theatre Club and Vineyard Theatre, respectively.

Read more at playbill.com . . . .

Link to HortonFootePrize.com . . . . (as of August 31, announcement has not yet been posted)

Austin Theatre Awards: B. Iden Payne Committee Has New Website, Invites Applications

The Greater Austin Creative Alliance (GACA) has established a website for the B. Iden Payne Awards, the competitive nominating and selection process for stage productions for the September - August annual season. Members of the Creative Alliance vote in September on a nomination list established by the committee, and results are celebrated in October.

Committee members are volunteers, GACA members from various branches of the arts. The Committee invites applications for vacancies that may occur at the opening of the stage season. Click on the image to go to the new website for further information.

A note: for their production of The Fantasticks, UT alumni Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones reportedly were thinking of B. Iden Payne with their affectionate portray of Henry the old stage actor, an itinerant comic figure valiantly stiff in the joints and occasionally bewildered in his Shakespearian memories. UT celebrates the 50th anniversary of the play's first Off Broadway staging in October of this year.

Click for a biography of Ben Iden Payne and a history of the awards.

The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Royal Pretenders at the Sam Bass Community Theatre, August 19 - 29

. . or, perhaps, The Road to Salvation as imagined by Bart Simpson.


The setting is a clichéd and unfunny take on the Day of Judgment, the plot's a mess, the characters are mostly caricatures, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot was LONG -- close to three hours, including one intermission.


A brilliant and moving play was hiding inside this mess, one that came clear in the concluding scenes, after the grunge and cuteness had been burned away.


One had the impression that Stephen Adly Guirgis set out to write a stand-up comedy routine about the afterlife and just couldn't bear to discard any of the many characters that occurred to him along the way.

Read more and view images at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . .